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Victoria Ward Ltd.

November, 2001

With anchor tenants like the Sports Authority, Pier One, and Borders bookstore and a glittery new entertainment complex, it’s hard to remember that landowner Victoria Ward Ltd. (No. 16) has family roots that go back more than a hundred years. Victoria Ward and her husband Curtis purchased the 65 acres of makai land in 1875, and once owned an estate of more than 100 acres that stretched from Thomas Square to the shore. Their home “The Old Plantation,” for which the song Kuu Home was written, stood where the Neal Blaisdell Center is today.

Today, the Victoria Ward Ltd. is the owner and operator of Victoria Ward Centers with a vision for its Kakaako “village.” Victoria Ward’s great great grandson Frank Ward Hustace, III (one of 37 shareholders who are descendants of Victoria Ward) has written a book called Victoria Ward and Her Family, published in 2000. In it Hustace writes, “Centrally located on the shore between downtown Honolulu and Waikiki, the company anticipates development of a new residential community in the area and envisions Victoria Ward Centers as an expanding “town center,” where people of all ages will gather, live, and work together.”

Hustace’s father, Frank Ward Hustace Jr. is the Secretary/Treasurer for Victoria Ward’s board of directors. Total assessed value for the company’s holdings is $313 million. Victoria Ward Ltd. had $28.6 million in gross sales last year.